Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Claude 3 Opus delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,248 vs 1,224), while Claude 3 Opus leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (38.4%), while Claude 3.5 Haiku is more budget-friendly at $4/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
8 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost
Previous cheap Claude. Haiku 4.5 is the current $1/$5 SKU.
Original Claude 3 flagship. Kept so opus 3 vs later Opus and vs GPT-4o still resolve.
Δ 24 Arena Elo pts
140 tok/s
$4 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Claude 3 Opus | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | +24 | ||
| LiveBench | +1.4% | ||
| SWE-bench | +2.2% | ||
| GPQA Diamond | +3.7% | ||
| Time to first token | +310 ms | ||
| Output speed | 140 tok/s | 48 tok/s | +92 tok/s |
| Input price | $0.8/1M | +$14.2/1M | |
| Output price | +$71/1M | ||
| Context window | — |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated to save $1,562.00/month ($18,744/year).
Higher SWE-bench (38.4%).
Lower output list price ($4/1M).
Lower TTFT (110 ms).
Larger window (200k).
Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude 3 Opus).
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Claude 3 Opus | Higher SWE-bench (38.4%). |
| High-volume chat | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Lower output list price ($4/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Lower TTFT (110 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Larger window (200k). |
| Screenshots / vision | Claude 3 Opus | Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude 3 Opus). |
No comments posted on this matchup yet. Be the first to share an evaluation note!
Dynamic OpenGraph banner generated at /compare/claude-3-5-haiku-vs-claude-3-opus/opengraph-image
Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry